Family Tree Magazine Names Virginia Memory as an Outstanding State Site

Virginia Memory has been named by Family Tree magazine as one of 75 stellar state-centric Web sites for genealogists. According to the magazine:“This roundup of digital collections from the Library of Virginia ranges from Revolutionary War bounty land warrants to questionnaires completed by Virginia WWI veterans. Recent additions include “cohabitation registers” for married former slaves and old photos from Fairfax County.”

Please be advised that the name of John Halliday, director of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, was inadvertently left out of the list of nominees for the inaugural Elizabeth M. Lewis Award. The winner was selected by a vote of public library directors in Virginia.

Most events are free and are open to the public. For specific locations, times, and details on the events listed below please visit our calendar of events.

Monday, December 6, 2010 – Saturday, October 29, 2011
Union or Secession: Virginians Decide
Virginia was central to American identity for its role in the founding of the United States and its political principles. Both the Confederacy and the Union wanted to claim Virginia’s historical legacy. Union or Secession explores what Virginians thought and debated as the crisis unfolded. Explore the choices Virginians faced as they decided their fate and that of the nation—Union or Secession. Through letters, journals, newspapers, official documents and correspondence, and maps and broadsides (the vast majority of these items from the Library's incomparable collections), Union or Secession offers insight into the complex and conflicting geographic, cultural, economic, and political factors that faced Virginians in 1860 and early 1861. The exhibition shows that Virginians' choice on the question of secession was far from certain as dramatic moves were being made outside the state.

December 15th, 21st and 22nd
Union or Secession Exhibition Guided Tour
What were Virginians thinking and discussing as the first Southern states withdrew from the United States following the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860? Why was Virginia’s decision critical to America’s fate in 1861 and key to the ultimate course and outcome of the sectional crisis? Virginia was central to American identity for its role in the founding of the United States and its political principles. Union or Secession explores what Virginians thought and debated as the crisis unfolded. Explore the choices Virginians faced as they decided their fate and the lasting consequences of their decisions for Virginia and the nation.

Thursday, December 9, 2010
Books on Broad Holiday Special: The Possibility
December's Books on Broad will feature live music, special discounts in the Virginia Shop, and, as always, complimentary light refreshments. The event will also feature a book talk and signing for The Possibility, which tells the story of Richmond's Positive Vibe Café and the inspiration behind the remarkable organization that provides employment and training opportunities for people with physical and cognitive disabilities. The Positive Vibe Foundation recently opened a satellite location at the Library of Virginia, Positive Vibe Express.

Monday, December 13, 2010—Saturday, October 29, 2011
The Struggle to Decide: Virginia's Secession Crisis
In the aftermath of the election of Abraham Lincoln as U.S. president in 1860 and the beginning of the secession crisis in December 1860, Virginia had a fateful choice to make: would it remain in, or secede from, the United States of America? In Virginia, the General Assembly called for a state convention to act for Virginia during the crisis. Meeting in February 1861, the 152 men elected to the convention faced the terrible task of deciding the fate of Virginia, and perhaps the nation.The Struggle to Decide exhibition, presented by the Library of Virginia, examines the actions taken by convention delegates and the governor that had a profound effect on Richmond and the Virginia State Capitol.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Reaping the Whirlwind: Virginians on the Eve of War
As a part of the opening of the Union or Secession: Virginians Decide exhibition, Elizabeth Varon discusses the tumultuous period leading to secession. Varon will put Virginians’ views of secession in the context of antebellum debates, with Unionists clinging to images of disunion as inherently chaotic and uncontrollable, while secessionists built the case that only disunion would ensure the state’s control over her own destiny.

Elizabeth R. Varon is a professor in the Corcoran Department of History at the University of Virginia. She is author of the award-winning Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, a Union Agent in the Heart of the Confederacy (2003) and We Mean to Be Counted: White Women and Politics in Antebellum Virginia (1998). Sponsored by Middleburg Trust.

Thursday, December 16, 2010
Creating the "Union or Secession" Exhibition
As a part of the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War, the Library of Virginia developed a unique exhibition on the commonwealth’s path to secession between the autumn of 1860 and the spring of 1861. Members of the Union or Secession exhibition planning team will discuss the challenges and successes of constructing an exhibition based on archival collections and other contemporary primary sources to give voice to a variety of perspectives about the crisis of 1861.

Friday, December 17, 2010
Educator Open House and Reception
Educators are invited to join us for a special review of the Union or Secession exhibition, and to learn about educational resources and scheduling school tours. Registration is required. Please call (804) 692-3999.

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